This week in eSports we’ve had major competitions get underway in Gears of War and Halo, while the Call of Duty off-season has begun in Europe. Here are the biggest stories of the past seven days.

Gears 4 Launch Invitational Teams Finalized

With the conclusion of the online qualifiers, the 8 teams heading to Columbus, Ohio for the $25,000 MLG run finals have been decided. Included in the list are Australian’s Mindfreak, France’s Vitality and Mexico’s Splyce as the only non-North American sides competing in the tournament. Joining them will be five NA sides, including Team EnVyUs and OpTic Gaming who will continue their much storied rivalry on the Gears of War battlefield for the first time. The competition will take place October 22nd to October 23rd , with Gears of War 4 set to release internationally October 11th .

Full list of competing teams:

• Team EnVyUs

• OpTic Gaming

• Team eLevate

• NRG eSports

• Dream Team

• Mindfreak

• Splyce

• Team Vitality

Europe Get Splyced

It’s been a volatile week for European Call of Duty, with countless team transfers changing the face of the scene ahead of Infinite Warfare’s release date. Things really kicked off when Joshh was unexpectedly dropped from COD XP Runners Up, Splyce, much to the shock of fellow pros and fans alike. His removal was to be short-lived, however, and he soon linked back up with Splyce as part of a new-look team that sees Joshh and Bance join forces with Millenium duo Jurd and Madcat.

The future of Millenium remains uncertain, with Tommey announcing that he’s considering calling time on his glittering career, offering a final decision after the return of long-time teammate, Callum ‘Swanny’ Swan. Two more of UK’s elite also announced their breakdown, with both Team Infused and Epsilon revealing that they were going their separate ways. The Infused split calls time on what has been one of Call of Duty’s longest standing rosters. With so many talented free agents now looking for a new place to ply their trade, this is only the beginning of Europe’s roster mania. Expect plenty more to come.

OpTic Gaming Sign World Champions

The latest OpTic Vision started with an emotional monolog, as long-time OG man Maniac spoke of his Halo retirement after years on the pro scene. Shown live via their Twitch channel, the entire console esports scene was captivated by the moment. This also meant the end of the OpTic Gaming Halo team, who we’ll see at the HCS Pro League under a different name.

But just when you thought you’d seen the last of OpTic on Halo, Vision ended with the surprise appearance of Lethul wearing an OpTic Gaming hoody. As if the episode couldn’t get any more action packed, with the entire story of CoD XP also being shown, OpTic announced they’d signed the former CLG team and current World Champions as their new Halo roster. The new OpTic team have already been in action in the HCS Pro League where they’ll look to defend their title.

If you missed OpTic Vision, you can catch it below.

Teams Confirm UMG Orlando Attendance

The CoD World League may be over but Black Ops 3 is set to have one last stand at UMG Orlando. It’s been a little over a month since Call of Duty last headed to Florida and with $100,000 on the line, we’re all set to return again. It’s now been confirmed that almost every NA pro team is gearing up to attend, including world champions EnVyUs, eLevate, OpTic Gaming, and Cloud9. Renegades and eUnited will also attend after making team changes. Renegades replaced Killa with Ivy, while eUnited replaced departing Ivy and Whea7s with Legal and Silly.

Clayster Chronicle Released

If you’re missing the World League and have the Call of Duty blues, now’s the perfect opportunity to enjoy one of the finest CoD videos ever put together. Clayster, 2015 World Champion and one of the game’s best players, has assembled a montage he calls ‘Clayster: The Chronicle’ that brings together many of his best clips from Ghosts, Advanced Warfare and Black Ops 3. In all, it’s 28 minutes of pure Clayster action; what more could any Call of Duty fan want? You can find the whole video below.

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